1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of emergency medicine and particularly relates to airway maintenance.
2. Related Art
Establishing and maintaining a patient airway is one of the most important components of Basic Life Support (BLS). When patient loses consciousness, the muscles of the jaw and pharynx relax, tongue falls back and this results in obstruction of the airway. Obstructed airway will result in hypoxemia and hypercarbia from hypoventilation thus further worsening patient's condition.
Normally, a head tilt-chin lift maneuver is commonly performed to open an airway in unresponsive victims. However, in patients with suspected neck/cervical spinal injury, a jaw-thrust maneuver without head tilt is the recommended method of opening an airway, in order to keep the spine stable, as depicted in FIG. 1.
The jaw-thrust is very commonly used by medical personnel working in acute care settings such as EMT (Emergency Medical Technicians), emergency room physicians, intensivists and anesthesiologists. It may also be indicated in other situations such as post anesthesia. However, whenever someone is assisting in jaw-thrust maneuver he/she has to be completely focused on the airway and is usually unable to contribute to resuscitation. Thus these maneuvers result in tying up a person for the duration of time, until a permanent airway is established e.g., by intubation or until patient's consciousness has recovered enough to maintain airway by him/her self. A mechanical device, which will perform a jaw-thrust and chin-lift will be a reasonable solution and can be applied in various settings.